- Al-Hilal and Al-Ain star should be fit for pre-season training in the summer after ACL injury.
- A full recovery is expected, but UAE talisman will definitely miss January's Asian Cup.
LONDON: Omar Abdulrahman should be ready to start pre-season training in the summer if his operation and rehabilitation from a serious knee injury goes to plan, according to a medical expert with experience of football in the Gulf.
The midfield star, on loan at Al-Hilal from Al-Ain, suffered a devastating blow on Oct. 20 when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee following an innocuous incident in the Saudi Pro League game against Al-Shabab. The 27-year-old has had to wait for the swelling to subside before going under the knife of Dr. Cugat in Barcelona on Wednesday. Cugat is one of the leading practitioners of knee surgery, performing operations on the likes of Pep Guardiola, Xavi and Kevin De Bruyne.
Nick Worth, the former Medical Services director at UAE giants Al-Jazira, said Abdulrahman, 27, is in safe hands and that the injury no longer puts his career in jeopardy.
“It’s a good, very well-practiced operation these days,” said Worth.
“It used to be career threatening, but he’s young enough to come back from it. They usually take a piece of hamstring and use that to create the new cruciate ligament. Sometimes they take the patella tendon at the front of the knee, but that’s slightly old fashioned, so they take a section of one of three hamstrings as, over time, the hamstring grows back.”
Abdulrahman is one of the most skilful players in the region and is capable of unlocking the very best defenses with a stroke of his gifted left foot. Is there a fear he may not return the same player and may lose a bit of trust in his body?
“He will lose a little bit of range of movement, but not enough to make a difference,” said Worth.
“Players are usually fine when they come back. The biggest thing is getting confidence back in the joint. It may take a few months for him to make a tackle and take a tackle, but there is no reason why he can’t make a total recovery. People have to give him time and give him that reassurance.”
Abdulrahman will miss the rest of the Saudi Pro League season and, most devastatingly for him, the Asian Cup in the UAE early next year. But Worth said the player should look at the bigger picture and the longevity of his career.
“It usually takes between six to eight months to come back,” said Worth. “At the bigger clubs, like Manchester United and Arsenal, it takes longer as they subscribe to the view that the longer the rehab, the better success rate of the comeback.
“I would say that Omar will be looking at being ready for the start of pre-season in the summer. It will probably take him a month or two to get his full fitness back, so you’ll probably see the best of him in October. Al-Ain have spent a lot of money on rehab and their facilities so he will be in really good hands if he goes back there.”
Fascinatingly, Worth, who spent nearly three years working in Abu Dhabi, said ACL injuries are five times more common in the UAE, where Abdulrahman has spent the last 12 years after moving there as a 15-year-old, than anywhere else in the world.
“Weirdly, the UAE has a vastly increased occurrence of ACL injuries,” Worth said. “There are a higher number of ACL injuries because people there can have an angle at the top of the tibia that has a greater slope backwards than the greater population and that sometimes makes them genetically more susceptible to an ACL.
“There are also number of different factors, like the number of times they pray and the nutrition, and that’s why the UAE has some of the top surgeons, because the injury is so common. There was an American orthopedic surgeon called Charles Brown and he had this clinic in Abu Dhabi and was one of the world’s best. He would spend day, after day, after day repairing the same injury.”
Worth worked at Al-Jazira in the UAE capital and watched Abdulrahman from the dugout when they played against Al-Ain in what was always a high-octane affair.
“I saw him play many times,” said Worth. “There was always so much speculation about him going abroad and I know he went to Man City on trial.
“He has a great amount of talent and is a great player, very exciting to watch.”